


Night Terrors

by robingurl



Category: Hardy Boys/Nancy Drew Mysteries (TV)
Genre: Hardy Boys Season 2: Soul Survivor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-12
Updated: 2019-12-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:27:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,344
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21764908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/robingurl/pseuds/robingurl
Summary: After Soul Survivor Joe has some healing to do. Involves brotherly love and over protective Frank and broken Joe. Mention of FRANCY.
Kudos: 12
Collections: 70s Hardy Boys TV Show - Season 2 Fics





	Night Terrors

**Author's Note:**

> I've been wanting to write this properly for years. I had tried 10 years ago only getting the general idea down but I think I finally have the life experiences to make this work (and google). I've done my best to keep them in character. It was fun to try and work a break down into Shaun Cassidy's Joe and I think I did it well. Parker's Frank is just so easy to write over protective brother and I absolutely adore it. Thanks boys for your help xD.

Frank had woken up only briefly to hear a soft knock on his door. He didn't even have to guess on who it was. He sat up and got off the bed opening it up. To his surprise this time it wasn't Joe. 

It was their Aunt. 

"Aunt Gertrude?" He asked trying not to be too loud and wake his brother from across the hall. He blinked in the bright light turning back briefly to glance at his clock. It said 2:45am. 

"I'm sorry to wake you but with your father gone…." 

"What is it?" 

She glanced back towards his brother's room then back to him. "Follow me." She led him across the hallway into his brother's room. The lamp had been turned on but Joe hadn't awakened. 

He lay there tangled in his sheets, his face contorted in a terrifying scream. Frank could see Joe's knuckles were white from clinging to the sheets. 

"I-I think it's a night terror.." He whispered. 

"That's what I thought, b-but I can't wake him… and I didn't know if I should or not." She stammered wringing her hands. "He cried out for a few seconds which is what woke me up then went silent and all of this happened…" 

"How long has this been going on?" Frank ran a hand through his hair trying to wake up so he could think through this. 

"About 10 minutes…" She sighed, "I thought the sleeping medication was supposed to stop these episodes." 

"Not stop them but help them not happen as often." Frank explained walking to the side of his brother's bed. "They won't stop until Joe's fear of what happened in Hong Kong subsides." 

"I knew your father leaving was a bad idea! I just knew it. Your brother is in no condition.." Their Aunt grumbled frustrated as she started to pace. 

"Go back to bed, I'll help get Joe out of this." 

"But Frank-" 

"I've got it. I've done this many times before. I just have to pull him back to reality." He gave the most reassuring smile he could. He didn't want to tell her that waking Joe up too fast could make it worse and cause an episode of sleep paralysis as well. "Thanks for grabbing me. Joe will be ok in a few minutes." 

She tsked before walking over and kissing her nephew on the head. "You promise me if you need help you'll come get me?" 

"I promise." 

She sighed glancing at her youngest nephew before nodding and heading out the door closing it. 

The doctor had told them that getting Joe into proper REM sleep could help fight the night terrors but it wasn't 100% effective. He had explained to Frank and their Father that until Joe got over the fear of the situation, nothing would really change. 

So far the medication had lowered the night terrors to only a few a week, the ones that did hit were long and exhausting for both Joe and whoever was awake to get him out of it. The other problem that came from Joe hitting REM sleep was if he was woken up too fast his body would go through sleep paralysis and make his panic even worse. 

This was what Frank was afraid of happening tonight. 

He sat on the edge of the bed and gently curled around his younger brother. With one arm he wrapped it around his brother, his free hand dropped to the hands clenched to the sheets and rubbed them gently trying to coax his brother to release his grip. "Joe…? Joe it's Frank. You're safe. Whatever your dreaming it's not real." 

He watched for any changes in his brother's features and saw them relax a little bit. His brother looked confused now. "You're not in Hong Kong. You're at home. I'm alive. Dad's alive. You're safe. I'm right here." A few tears streamed down Joe's cheeks in response to the words Frank spoke. 

It broke his heart to see his brother going through this and knowing he couldn't fix it. He could only put a bandaid on it every time the wound was ripped open. "That's it. You're ok." He squeezed one of Joe's hands gently. "Relax your hands, little brother." He felt the hand under his slowly relax. 

He waited a few seconds watching his brother's body trying to see how well he was doing at pulling Joe out of it. He only just noticed how sweaty his brother was, this one must have been a big nightmare. "Come on, Joe. Open your eyes… I'm right here. It's only a nightmare." 

Frank gently brushed some of the blonde hair away from his brother's sweaty face. He could feel his brother's heart beating quickly in his chest. 

After a few minutes of this coaxing, he watched as his brother's eyes opened slightly still heavily lidded. "Joe? Hey..it's ok. You're home." Frank smiled looking down at him. 

Joe's body didn't move as he looked around the room. When Joe's eyes settled back on him, Frank realized what had happened. "Just relax, don't panic. It's just sleep paralysis… just let it run it's course." 

Joe had heard Frank's voice and could see his face but the voice didn't match up with his brother's lips that were moving. The sound garbled in his ears and his brother's face changed turning black and his eyes turning red. 

He tried to scream but was unable too. Several other shadows started to appear around him. Their faces turning into the nurses and doctors from the hospital then back to shadows. 

He could hear his heart beat growing louder as he started to panic. He wanted out of this haunted nightmare. He wanted his brother. 

A few seconds later Joe could hear his brother calling his name. His vision started to refocus and tingling sensation ran up his body, his arms and legs. "F-Frank…" He was barely able to say. Tears blurred his eyes as he sat up shaking and crying reaching out to cling to his brother. He buried his face in Frank's shoulder sobbing. 

Frank sighed and only hugged his brother as tight as he could rocking him a bit. "I know, I know…shh it's over. It's over. You're home. You're safe. I'm here. Dad's alive." He glanced up and saw their Aunt peering in through the cracked door. Frank gave her a sad smile but nodded that he was ok. 

She only nodded silently and gave a sad smile before closing the door back. He knew why she was just as upset as they were. This entire mess was hard to deal with for everyone, not just Joe. Joe had never been one to cry or wear many of his emotions on his sleeve out in the open. At least not to anyone that wasn't his brother. 

But now that was different. 

It seemed like his brother was always on the verge of tears and the sobs always sounded so heart breaking. It was a feeling he'd tried to explain to Nancy over the phone but was having a hard time putting words to it. He had told her it felt like his heart was ripped out of his chest and thrown to his feet and someone stepped on a puppy at the same time. 

Frank didn't say anything as he held his brother. He only hugged him as tight as he could not letting go. He could only imagine how he'd handle the news of his brother and father being dead for over a year and he not knowing. This was why he didn't have the heart to joke about this or make light of any of it. His brother was really hurting and was truly scared. "You're good, Joe." He finally whispered. "You're ok." 

Joe didn't pull away for a full 10-15 minutes afraid if he did he'd be thrown back into the nightmare again. His memory was starting to forget the dream and the terror. 

Frank could tell when Joe had started to calm down. He also knew that his brother was probably a bit confused. As soon as the panic passed it was normal for the person experiencing the night terror to forget what had happened. Sometimes Joe remembered but more recently he didn't.  
"Joe?" 

"F-Frank…?" His brother's voice was hoarse from all the screaming and crying. "W-Where am I?" 

"In your room. On your bed." He responded softly. 

"D-Did it happen again?" 

"Yeah, yeah it did." Frank moved and sat back against the head board petting his brother's hair gently. 

Joe rested his head against his brother's chest panting out of breath. "…I-I'm sorry.." 

"Don't be. It's ok. I'm here. I'm not leaving." He rubbed Joe's back exhausted himself. "Here, calm down for a few minutes then I'll get up and get you some new pajamas. You worked up quite a sweat." 

"O-Ok…" The blonde responded his hug around his brother relaxed and wasn't as tight of a grip. "F-Frank will they ever stop…?" 

Frank glanced down at his brother trying to figure out what to say. "One day they will. I promise. And when they do we'll go travel somewhere to celebrate, how does that sound?" 

Joe nodded silently. He couldn't see them traveling anywhere for a long time. He barely got out of the house since they got back as it was. When he did go outside he couldn't stay long. He got what the doctor called "sensory overload" and would get over whelmed and start to panic if his brother wasn't by his side and even if he was it would still happen. 

When he did have to go out it was planned down to the second what would happen. His brother had even started explaining the schedule to him before hand so he knew exactly what was coming. 

Any other time, Joe would have hated being doted on so much and would hate himself for having this annoying thing. But right now, as the doctor had told him, he was broken and needed to accept that so that he could heal properly. Until he admitted it to himself and let himself fully break he wasn't going to be able to put himself back together. 

Frank smiled and helped his brother sit up. "Before you crash on me, let's at least change your pajamas." He then reached forward and unbuttoned his brother's blue pajama shirt easing it off his brother's shoulders. He didn't like how flushed his brother's skin was. "Just think where would you like to go? Last year you wanted to go to Madi Gras remember? But dad wouldn't let us, he said you were too young? Why don't we plan on trying to go?" He continued to try and talk normally with his brother as he got up and dug through his brother's messy drawers finding a t shirt and some boxers. He threw them on the bed beside his brother and went out and into the bathroom coming back with a wet wash cloth. 

Joe only sat there dazed watching his brother run around. He shivered as he was left shirtless. What was Frank doing? A few seconds later Frank reappeared and sat on the edge of the bed. 

"This is going to be cold Joe. But bare with me. I'm worried you may have worked yourself into a fever." Frank explained as he gently washed his brother's chest and arms off. His brother had been prone to fevers since he was born. Anything could provoke them: from getting over heated, to being too cold, to over exhaustion, stress, fear, etc. 

Frank had stopped counting the times his brother had worked himself into one and instead kept an eye on him as much as he could to try and prevent them. He was always trying to get Joe to slow down and rest to give his body a tiny break and possibly not cause oncoming fever. Sometimes he succeeded and sometimes he didn't catch it fast enough. They had spent many nights in hotel rooms with Frank helping Joe sweat off a fever. 

Tonight wasn't any different. 

He sighed inwardly. Only it was. His little brother was hunched over with red eyes from crying, face pale and shoulders shaking broken into pieces mentally from a horrible plan to get information out of him. 

He patted Joe's head gently and helped him pull the clean shirt over his head. He then handed his brother his boxers. "I'll let you do that honor." 

Joe took them and stood unsteadily dropping his pajama pants before putting his boxers on. While Joe was up Frank quickly changed the sheets as well leaving new ones on the bed. The sweaty ones in the corner. He'd take care of them tomorrow. Right now he wanted to get Joe into bed and back to sleep. 

Frank walked over and guided his brother back to the bed. Joe's hands held his brothers as he sat down on the bed. Frank kept one hand holding Joe's and the other helped his brother lay down in the now clean sheets. "Do you want me to stay?" 

"P-Please?" Came Joe's barely audible response. 

"Of course." Frank slid in beside his brother and placed the wash cloth on Joe's forehead. "Keep that there for a bit. Let it lower your fever." He lay on his side after turning off the lamp by the bed. He heard Joe's breathing relax a bit, his brother still holding one of his hands. "That's it, Joe. Just relax. I'm here. I'm not leaving." He watched in the dark as his brother closed his eyes and drifted off into sleep. He waited for a few minutes before scooting down a bit and pulling the covers up over them. He reached up feeling his brother's temperature. It was only a low grade fever, Joe would be able to sleep this one off. 

Nestling the covers around his brother's small frame, Frank got comfortable as well falling asleep quickly just as exhausted curled up around his brother.


End file.
